Vasil Kiryienka

Vasil Kiryienka
	Kiryienka at the 2011 Giro d'Italia
Personal information
Full name	Vasili Vasilyevich Kiryienka
Nickname	Robocop
Born	28 June 1981 (age 43); Rechytsa, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union; (now Belarus);
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	75 kg (165 lb; 11.8 st)
Team information
Current team	BelAZ
Disciplines	Road; Track;
Role	Rider (retired); Directeur sportif;
Rider type	Time trialist; Domestique;
Professional teams
2006	OTC Doors
2006	Rietumu Banka–Riga
2007–2008	Tinkoff Credit Systems
2009–2012	Caisse d'Epargne
2013–2020	Team Sky
Managerial team
2021–	BelAZ
Major wins
	Grand Tours Giro d'Italia 3 individual stages (2008, 2011, 2015) Vuelta a España 1 individual stage (2013) One-day races and Classics World Time Trial Championships (2015) National Time Trial Championships; (2002, 2005, 2006, 2015, 2018) European Games Time Trial (2015, 2019)
Medal record
Men's road bicycle racing
Representing Belarus
World Championships
European Games
Representing Team Sky
World Championships
Men's track cycling
Representing Belarus
World Championships

Vasili Vasilyevich Kiryienka (Belarusian: Васіль Васілевіч Кірыенка; Łacinka: Vasil Vasilevič Kiryjenka; born 28 June 1981) is a Belarusian former racing cyclist,^[4] who rode professionally between 2006 and 2020 for the OTC Doors, Rietumu Banka–Riga, Tinkoff Credit Systems, Movistar Team and Team Ineos squads. He currently works as a directeur sportif for UCI Continental team BelAZ.^[5]

Career

Early years

Born in Rechytsa, Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Kiryienka won his first national time trial championship in 2002. His early career focused mainly on the track, where he won the Points Race at the 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships. Later that season Kiryienka won Stage 19 of the Giro d'Italia, a mountainous affair leading to Presolana, after spending the day on the attack and registering more than 6 hours and a half in the saddle. He attacked his six breakaway companions at the foot of the Monte Para climb and soloed to the finish for the win, by a margin of over four minutes.^[6]

Caisse d'Epargne (2009–2012)

Kiryienka competing in the time trial at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London

Kiryienka moved to the Spanish Caisse d'Epargne squad for the 2009 season.

In 2010 he finished second in the tenth stage of the Tour de France after he was outsprinted at the line in Gap by Sérgio Paulinho (Team RadioShack) after the pair's decisive attack with 14 kilometres (8.7 miles) remaining.^[7]

On 23 May 2011, during the Giro d'Italia, Kiryienka's Movistar Team teammate Xabier Tondo was killed in a freak accident at home while preparing to train with teammates. He was reportedly crushed between his car and a garage door.^[8] Five days later, Kiryienka rode to victory in a solo effort on Stage 20, a mountain top finish at Sestriere, and he dedicated the stage victory to Tondó, pointing skyward as he crossed the finish line.^[9] The team had met to consider withdrawing from the race after Tondó's death, but instead the riders unanimously voted to ride on.^[10] Kiryienka commented that the squad at the Giro hoped to get a further stage win (as Francisco Ventoso's win had come before Tondó's death) to honor him, while other members of the team grieved with Tondó's family.^[11]

In September 2012, Kiryienka finished third in the individual time trial at the road world championships.^[12]

Team Sky (2013–2020)

Kiryienka at the 2014 Tour de France

Kiryienka left Movistar Team at the end of the 2012 season, and joined Team Sky on an initial three-year contract from the 2013 season onwards.^[13]

In May 2015, Kiryienka won the individual time trial of the Giro d'Italia, which was 59.5 kilometres (37.0 miles) long and relatively rolling.^[14] In June 2015, he won the individual time trial at the inaugural European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan.^[15] On 23 September 2015, Kiryienka won the individual time trial at the CI Road World Championships in Richmond, Virginia, United States.^[16]

Kiryienka had the honor to carry the flag of his native Belarus at the opening ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where he competed in the men's individual time trial event; he finished in 17th place. In October, he competed in the same event at the World Championships in Doha, where he won the silver medal – giving him at least one medal of each colour for his career.^[17]

In January 2020, Kiryienka retired from the sport due to recurring "cardiac issues".^[4]